What if Gaborik is hurt?

Let’s start fresh shall we….I was thinking recently, and the decent comments on the last post brought home the point, what happens if Gabby does get hurt in a way that seriously affects his ability to play/ice time etc. He’s obviously had a huge impact on this team and while we have a lot of fine up-and-comers, and one man does not necessarily make the whole team (well, with some exceptions, Mess being one), what do you think will happen if Gab can’t make the whole season? Who steps in, or up? Thoughts?

And really, do not make me spend the rest of my day as I did on the first post. You have no idea how ugly my charming self can become when I’m pushed too far. :) Thanks!

41 Comments

Well if Gaborik Goes down for an extended period, Cally, Higgins and Drury must ALL elevate their games.
None can replace his talent, but if they played up to their potential it could minimize the loss of Gabby.

get ready for an influx of trolls starting tomorrow. all the ones who’ve posted on zips blog that don’t wanna pay the monthly rate are going to start trending over here. Do you guys have the testicular fortitude to ignore them, or is this gonna turn into a troll controlled board??

Did someone say in the previous post that Gabby was coming to the AL to see Dr. Andrews? I’m only 2 hours from B’ham, I’ll freakin drive down there to see whats up!!!

Avery has looked semi invisible because he is playing less minutes and will less talented of players this year. If you remember, because we really haven’t had a real superstar in years, Avery was playing on the top two lines, and playing a lot more. If you stunk him on a line with Gabby and Prospal, or on a line with Dubi he would be getting more points and also be more visible.

We stop scoring. Honestly, I think our goals/game average will take a SERIOUS hit. Gabby scores even when he isn’t supposed to. Seemingly harmless shots end up in the back of the net (while higgins misses legitimate chances in bunches.) Opposing d-men breathe a sigh of relief.

i’m sorry,but at this point I don’t see drury or higgins stepping up for anything! It’d be awesome if they did! But drury won’t let a possible injury to Gabby ruin his Turkmenistan Independence Day, nor his Saint Pierre and Miquelon Independence Day. He’s clutch for Independence!

Gionta is lighting it up with Gomez…does sound familiar? I’d be cryinggggg if I were a Devils fan for that reason alone. I honestly don’t feel upset about what Devil fans are saying cuz they are oviously in pain. I’m not being sarcastic either. I realize thier pain and they don’t have to go to thier neibors over here to lash out. The Devils and Rangers can co-exist but losing a player like Gionta and…Madden is painfull. I’m just saying the Devils fans have thier own problems and we really don’t have too many over here ,but were not gonna talk down to the Devils fans cuz frankly , we have all been there before…and it hurts.

Yea I say, IF GABBY IS OUT let me say that again IF GABBY IS OUT??? (I would like to underline IF, if I could). I would say bring up Grachev for THE SHORT TIME GABBY WOULD BE OUT let me say that again FOR THE SHORT PERIOD GABBY WOULD BE OUT. And the veterans would have to start playing like veterans, and actaully earning their paychecks. My question is (and I guess I could look this up but) how many seasons has Gaborick been playing and how many games has he missed. Is he really that injury prone, or is it just bad luck. Was he injured a lot in Juniors???

Laurrrrel , umm I do love all yer posts ,ya do know that huh? I even got really upset when Doodie got you to erase one of your post (funny ,guy gets you to erase your post yet hes never here..) Saying What if Gaborick is hurt is like me saying to you , What If I ran over yer cat by mistake? Ya just don’t want to fathom it, ya know …just saying that if ya want people to stop being upset ,then starting a post like this will only get people depressed more than they already are. This is the worst I have ever felt after a Ranger win…I feel sick to my stomach.

Let’s not go down this road, Gabby is fine. But I will say this anyway, obviously if had to go on with out him we could and still do fairly well. Yes we may not win every game but players WOULD STEP UP AND GET THE JOB DONE.

Without Gabby, we simple become a mediocre team without spark and hope for miracle. We will probably struggle to get to the playoffs in a best case scenario. Grachev and Parentau will be called upon, all lines will be re-shuffled until new chemistry will be find and, God gives, they will produce in bulk all of the sudden. Oh, and please, don’t you ever count that “…Cally, Higgins and Drury must ALL elevate their games”. It’s never happened by the fans or couches prays. They do what they can right now and that is not much in this department. Additional responsibility will not going to elevate their game, unfortunately. It is fact. So, we better pray for gabby and send him flowers now!

I’m not quite as doom and gloom as Doodie but I definitely am more towards that camp.

I think that Prospal and DZ’s production is highly correlated to Gaborik’s and then the best non-Gaborik related scorer is Kotalik who even owes his PP numbers to the 1st unit.

I really thought Higgins would produce Zherdev type numbers, not in the same fashion but at least comparable production. And let’s face it, no one from last year’s team has really dramatically exceeded last year’s production so far. So yes, they would end up looking a lot like last year’s offense which is a scary proposition.

Simple. Try to fill Gaboriks spot with Lisin, and move Dubi back to the top line. Lisin is similar enough to Gaborik that it has the potential to work ok as a stopgap. Keep Drury between Kotalik and Avery, and bump Anisimov between Callahan and Higgins

the king gives us a chance to win any game on a given night but we’ve been looking to those guys to step up for a while now. i don’t think loosing Gabby would make it happen. we’d make the playoffs somewhere in the 6-8 spots.